THE MECCANO SET
Hume Hwy, Woodville Rd & Henry Lawson Dr, Lansdowne

This historic intersection, the intersection of Hume Highway, Woodville Rd & Henry Lawson Dr in Sydney's south-western suburb of Landsowne, gains its name from the overhead sign gantries that resemble something constructed from meccano or lego. The infamous gantries were installed in 1962 - at the time this was the intersection of two major highways: Hume and State Highway No. 13 (now named Cumberland Hwy). State Highway No. 13 was the major through traffic route across Sydney, connecting the Pacific and Hume Highways with the Gt Western Hwy at Parramatta.

The intersection lost its importance in August 1988 when State Highway No. 13 was moved onto the newly constructed Cumberland Hwy route - Woodville Rd being replaced as a long-distance route. There was a NR31 trailblazer on the south-west corner of the intersection that survived until late 2003 and I managed to get a pic of it :-)

Current (May 2004) Photos
	Woodville Rd southbound. May 2004.
	Woodville Rd southbound again. May 2004.
	Woodville Rd southbound ID sign for eastbound Hume Hwy. May 2004.
	Henry Lawson Dr southbound. May 2004.
	Henry Lawson Dr northbound. May 2004.
	Henry Lawson Dr northbound. May 2004.
	Woodville Rd northbound. Note "Hornsby/Newcastle" focals indicate the once long-distance nature of this route. May 2004.
	Westbound Hume Highway. May 2004.
	Westbound Hume Hwy again. May 2004.
	Eastbound Hume Hwy. May 2004.
	Eastbound Hume Highway. May 2004.
	Eastbound Hume Hwy. May 2004.

Historic Photos
	Northbound Henry Lawson Drive in 1962. Note the right-hand-turn movement has since been removed. Also note the lack of route shields on the direction signs. Route shields generally were confined to trailblazers until the early/mid 1970s.
	Same view - this time in 1973. Note the NR31 trailblazer that survived until late 2003.
	Eastbound Hume Hwy - note the Ring Road 5 sign in 1973.
	Southbound Woodville Rd in 1973.
	Westbound Hume Hwy in 1973 - note that nowadays the right-most straight lane is signed for Fairfield as it becomes a turn lane for the Horsley Drive.

Back to Hume Highway
Back to State Route 31
Back to State Route 55